2007 – FlaLawhttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw
University of Florida Levin College of LawMon, 22 Feb 2016 20:06:23 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7Career Spotlight: D. Rodney Brownhttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/career-spotlight-d-rodney-brown/
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:54:45 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=625On November 5, 2006, UF College of Law graduate D. Rodney Brown (JD 91) stood at the rear of the courtroom in Baghdad when deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal. As Hussein was led away by guards after a defiant outburst, Hussein walked within a few feet of Brown. Hussein smiled at Brown, and Brown politely returned the gesture.

That was the closest that Brown, an assistant U.S. attorney in Jacksonville, came to the notorious Iraqi ruler during the six months he was deployed as an attorney advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Regime Crimes Liaison’s Office at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Brown was deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom after responding to a request from the Department of Justice for prosecutors willing to spend six months in Baghdad assisting and advising the Iraqi High Tribunal in the investigation and prosecution of high ranking members of the former Iraqi regime.

“I have never been in the military but always admired those who served,” Brown said later, “especially the military veterans who became federal agents and investigated cases which I prosecuted. So the service part of the opportunity appealed to me. It was something I was being led to do.”

Back home in the United States, Brown’s usual work day as an AUSA involves investigating and prosecuting criminal cases in federal court, including drug trafficking, child exploitation, violent crime and firearms cases. In Iraq, Brown and the other American lawyers assisting the tribunal were not in the courtroom during the trial proceedings. Instead their duties included assisting judges, prosecutors and even defense attorneys behind the scenes with security, logistics, defendant and witness transportation, legal arguments, and proper courtroom procedures. He said it was “organized chaos.”

However, it was the travel throughout the country to locate and interview witnesses to mass killings of Iraqi citizens by the former regime that impacted Brown most. One case involved the investigation of the suppression of the 1991 Shi’ite uprising in which his team had to connect victims discovered in several mass graves to the criminal acts committed by the former regime. American forensic anthropologists would clean clothing found in the graves, arrange it on mannequins, and then photograph the mannequins. The photos then would be shown to potential witnesses in town near the mass grave sites for identification. Because much of the clothing was handmade, surviving relatives could identify it 15 years later.

“The victims were glad we were there. They wanted their stories told,” Brown said.

In another investigation in northern Iraq, Brown said regime troops had taken every male over the age of 11 from several different villages and deported them. Brown also spent a week in Kurdistan working with the Kurdish minister of human rights investigating the 1983 genocide of the Barzani tribe, in which the remains of 513 men were found in a mass grave in southern Iraq.

He was appointed a special deputy United States Marshal and carried a weapon constantly during his tour. Although he flew more than 30 helicopter missions without taking fire, there were times—such as one afternoon in late January 2007 when four rockets struck and exploded just outside the U.S. Embassy as he worked inside—that came a little too close.

On November 11, 2006, Brown and over 250 other Americans ran the Baghdad International Memorial Marathon. He said that the race, which coursed through parts of downtown Baghdad in the International Zone, was one of the highlights of his deployment.

Brown watched and celebrated the Gators football national championship game in Baghdad, and gloated over the victory to several of his fellow lawyers who hailed from Ohio.

Brown said the Iraqis with whom he worked were appreciative of the American presence and treated him and his colleagues very well. It was, he said, the experience of a lifetime to be part of one of the trials of the century, like being at the Nuremburg trials in the 1940s.

On Brown’s last day in Baghdad before returning home, he visited several of the judges with whom he had worked closely to say goodbye. The judge thanked Brown for his service and stated that he wished that Brown could stay in Iraq for 10 years. Brown responded, “I don’t think that my wife would like that.”

]]>Baldwin and Kottkamp to Speak at Levin College of Law’s Final Fall Commencement Ceremony Dec. 21https://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/baldwin-and-kottkamp-to-speak-at-levin-college-of-laws-final-fall-commencement-ceremony-dec-21/
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:14:27 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=621Chesterfield Smith Professor of Law Fletcher N. Baldwin Jr., who has taught generations of UF Law students since arriving in Gainesville in 1962, will be the faculty speaker at the Levin College of Law’s commencement at 2 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp, a 1987 UF Law graduate, will address the Fall 2007 graduating class. Students and faculty are asked to arrive at 1:15 p.m. The ceremony will last approximately 90 minutes to two hours. There will be a reception to follow at the Levin College of Law Marcia Schott Courtyard. Parking will be in the lot directly in front of the Phillips Center for Performing Arts as well as the parking garage in the same complex.
]]>Faculty Scholarship & Activitieshttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/faculty-scholarship-activities-13/
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:21:16 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=1251Faculty Scholarship & Activities

Christine A. Klein
Professor; Associate Dean for Faculty Development

Published “The Law of the Lakes: From Protectionism to Sustainability,” 5 Michigan State Law Review 1259 (2006) as part of a symposium on Great Lakes water allocation issues held in Chicago.

Presented his paper, “Mandatory Contracting Remedies in the American and European Microsoft Cases,” at the conference on “The End of the Microsoft Case?,” sponsored by the Searle Center of Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago on Nov. 16.

Served as commentator in a panel on recent Supreme Court antitrust decisions at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Economic Association in New Orleans on Nov. 19.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Robert H. Jerry, II
Dean; Levin Mabie and Levin Professor

The Independent Florida Alligator, Nov. 16. Quoted in an article discussing the recent trend of declining applications for law schools and how the University of Florida has not been affected over the last two years. “It’s fair to say that our law school is increasingly a popular first-choice destination,” said Jerry who expects the number of applications to UF law school to continue to rise. “People who take a close look at the university and especially those taking a look at the law school realize we’ve got some pretty good things going on here.”

The St. Petersburg Times, Nov. 15. Mentioned as the legal advisor for House Speaker Marco Rubio, a gambling opponent who has Mills’ opinion that any compact is subject to lawmaker’s approval. Mills said legislative approval is required because table games permitted in the compact are illegal under Florida law.

Michael L. Seigel
Professor

The Washington Post, Nov. 18. Quoted in an article discussing the recent release from prison of Arthur Bremer, who in 1972 shot and paralyzed Democratic presidential candidate Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace in Laurel, Md. The article highlights other high-profile crimes of that era. “In general, there is an odd element of nostalgia that is attached to these crimes, especially for baby boomers,” says Michael Seigel. “It may be odd, but I do think that for many of us, it brings back memories of where we were, and what we were doing and how these events impacted our lives.” In discussing citizen’s fear of Bremmer’s release, Seigel said, “Most of the time, murder is not a recidivist crime. Unless someone is a mass murderer or a psychopath, they don’t do it again. Statistically speaking, if someone kills in a fit of passion, the odds of them murdering again is not high.” Public interest in the crimes is high, however, with a proliferation of such TV shows as “CSI” and “Law & Order,” which fuel the nation’s collective fascination, Seigel said. “Americans find crime, particularly homicide, as entertainment, which is unfortunate, but has become part of our culture.”

The Washington Post, Nov. 16. Quoted in an article that also referenced his newly published book, Privacy at Risk. The article, entitled “The Picture Of Conformity In a Watched Society, More Security Comes With Tempered Actions,” refers to the following passage from the book: “Anonymity in public promotes freedom of action and an open society. Lack of public anonymity promotes conformity and an oppressive society.” Furthermore, it discussed Slobogin’s opinion sample, which randomly selected 70 people from Florida jury pools and asked them to rank the level of intrusiveness of 25 law enforcement tactics, including several surveillance techniques. People “don’t expect to be stalked either by a person or by a camera—at least they don’t like it,” he said. “They expect to get lost in the crowd, or at least not to be monitored continuously.”

]]>The Washington Post Calls on UF Law Professors Slobogin and Seigel for Expert Commentaryhttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/the-washington-post-calls-on-uf-law-professors-slobogin-and-seigel-for-expert-commentary/
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:16:12 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=1249UF Law Professors Christopher Slobogin and Mike Seigel each made appearances in the pages of The Washington Post recently. Slobogin and his newly published book, Privacy at Risk, were mentioned in the Nov. 16 article, “The Picture Of Conformity In a Watched Society, More Security Comes With Tempered Actions,” which included the following passage from his book: “Anonymity in public promotes freedom of action and an open society. Lack of public anonymity promotes conformity and an oppressive society.” Seigel was quoted in an article discussing the recent release of Arthur Bremer (pictured above), who in 1972 shot and paralyzed Democratic presidential candidate Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace in Laurel, Md. “In general, there is an odd element of nostalgia that is attached to these crimes, especially for baby boomers,” Seigel says. “It may be odd, but I do think that for many of us, it brings back memories of where we were, and what we were doing and how these events impacted our lives.” Read what UF Law professors are saying in the media and writing about in scholarly publications in FlaLaw Online’s weekly updates on Faculty Scholarship & Activities.
]]>Faculty Among Most Cited Law Professors in the Country, According to Latest Leiter Rankingshttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/faculty-among-most-cited-law-professors-in-the-country-according-to-latest-leiter-rankings/
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:14:50 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=1246Several UF Levin College of Law professors are among those recognized as the most cited in the country in the latest rankings from University of Texas Law Professor Brian Leiter. Leiter’s ranking of Most Cited Law Professors by Specialty, 2000-2007 includes the following members of the UF Law faculty: Professor Jerold Israel, Ed Rood Eminent Scholar in Trial Advocacy & Procedure, who is 25th in Criminal Law & Procedure; Professor Lawrence Lokken, Hugh F. Culverhouse Eminent Scholar in Taxation, who is 9th in Tax; Cone Wagner Nugent Johnson, Hazouri and Roth Professor Juan Perea, who is 24th in Critical Theories; and Professor Christopher Slobogin, Stephen C. O’Connell Chair, who is 11th in Criminal Law & Procedure. Earlier this fall, Leiter ranked the UF Law faculty among the Top 35 Law Faculties Based on Scholarly Impact for 2007.2007 Faculty Report
]]>UF Law Students Tour Alachua County Jailhttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/uf-law-students-tour-alachua-county-jail/
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:12:19 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=1243Officer Maggie Donnell (pictured, right) led UF Levin College of Law students on a tour of the Alachua County Jail Thursday, Nov. 1. Hosted by the Criminal Law Association, the annual tour of the jail provided participants access to the entire 314,000 square foot facility. The jail, which is under the authority of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, is currently overcrowded with only 980 beds for approximately 1,100 inmates. The jail houses individuals arrested within Alachua County to include detainees awaiting a first appearance and bail hearing, defendants awaiting trial, and convicts with sentences up to one year. The tour included views of the first appearance room, which utilizes a video conference link to the Alachua County Courthouse, the library, which has a Westlaw account for the inmates’ use, and the inmates’ living spaces, which are organized by pods. The inmates are assigned to the pods according to a classification system that takes into account a variety of factors including the alleged crime, age, and adherence to the rules.
]]>Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to speak at UFhttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/former-u-s-attorney-general-alberto-gonzales-to-speak-at-uf/
Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:35:32 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=1278Alberto Gonzales, former U.S. attorney general, will speak at UF on Monday, Nov. 19, in the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. This event is free and open to the public. Gonzales was appointed the first Hispanic Attorney General of the United States in February 2005. He is a former White House counsel to President George W. Bush. Tickets can be picked up at the Phillips Center and University Box Office (limit two per person). The event begins at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. For information, call ACCENT at (352) 392-1665 ext. 306, www.accentspeakers.com or e-mail accent@sg.ufl.edu.
]]>Faculty Scholarship & Activitieshttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/faculty-scholarship-activities-14/
Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:31:25 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=1270Faculty Scholarship & Activities

Leonard L. Riskin
Chesterfield Smith Professor of Law

Published “The Place of Mindfulness in Healing and the Law,” in Shifting The Field of Law & Justice 99-120, Center for Law and Renewal (Linda Hager, Bonnie Allen & Renee Floyd Meyers, eds) (2007).

Made a panel presentation on “Accessing our Inner Awareness and Intentions to Improve Conflict Resolution Practice: The Practical Role of Inner Work” at the Association for Conflict Resolution Conference in Phoenix.

Gave a luncheon address on “Awareness and Ethics in Dispute Resolution” at a conference on Ethics in Dispute Resolution at South Texas College of Law.

Served as a commentator (by telephone) at a conference on Buddhism and Dialogue, sponsored by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

Elizabeth A. Rowe
Assistant Professor

Participated as a member of a panel at the International Trademark Association’s meeting in Orlando on November 9th on teaching trademark law.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Houston Chronicle, Nov. 9. Appeared in an article discussing his backing of legislative leaders who say any gambling deal with the Seminole Indians must have the Legislature’s approval. He prepared the opinion at the request of House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami. Rubio is against allowing the Seminoles to have anything more than Class III slots. The article concluded with Mills saying the federal law is silent on who should negotiate such compacts on behalf of states, but the Florida Constitution gives the Legislature, not the governor, the power to “make fundamental determinations of policy.”

Palm Beach Post, Nov. 15. Served as a Florida legal expert in an article about Gov. Charlie Crist signing an agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida today allowing the Indians to conduct Las Vegas-style slot machine gambling and card games, including blackjack, at the tribe’s seven casinos. Issued in a press release by House Speaker Marco Rubio, “Mills advised that any gambling compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe is invalid without legislative ratification.”

Tallahassee Democrat, Nov. 10. Quoted in the article discussing the racial composition of the jurors in the trial of eight former Bay County boot camp employees who were found not guilty of felony aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death of Martin Lee Anderson, who died Jan. 6, 2006, one day after he was hit, kneed and his limp body dragged by drill instructors at the camp. Anderson was black; five defendants were white, two black and one Asian. When jury selection ended Sept. 26, no blacks were on the panel. Civil rights advocates say jury selection is a focus of an ongoing federal civil rights investigation. On whether a racially diverse jury have mattered, Nunn said, “People from different cultural backgrounds will interpret the video differently, depending on the race of people in the video. There is a cultural bias in all of us.”

]]>Nunn Comments on Make-Up of Boot Camp Trial Jury, Mills Discussses Crist’s Deal With Seminole Indianshttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/nunn-comments-on-make-up-of-boot-camp-trial-jury-mills-discussses-crists-deal-with-seminole-indians/
Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:29:45 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=1267UF Levin College of Law Professor Kenneth Nunn (pictured, right) spoke with the Tallahassee Democrat on the ongoing federal civil rights investigation into the jury selection in the trial of eight former Bay County boot camp employees who were found not guilty of felony aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death of Martin Lee Anderson, a black youth who died one day after he was hit, kneed and his limp body dragged by drill instructors at the camp. Professor Jon Mills, director of the Center for Governmental Responsibility, discussed with the Houston Chronicle his backing of legislative leaders who say any gambling deal with the Seminole Indians must have the Legislature’s approval. Read what UF Law professors are saying in the media and writing about in scholarly publications in FlaLaw Online’s weekly updates on Faculty Scholarship & Activities.
]]>Statutory Slayers Knock Out the Corporate Kickbacks 7-4 in Law School’s Annual Kickball Tourneyhttps://www.law.ufl.edu/flalaw/2007/11/statutory-slayers-knock-out-the-corporate-kickbacks-7-4-in-law-schools-annual-kickball-tourney/
Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:28:36 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/wpflalaw/?p=1264Exams may be right around the corner, but for some law students a rivalry on the softball field took precedence over competition in the classroom. Second-year law students enrolled in Professor Lee-ford Tritt’s Estates and Trusts or Professor Michael Siebecker’s Corporations class spent their Friday afternoon testing their skills in the 5th Annual Kickball Tournament held on the softball field at Southwest Recreation Center on Nov. 9.

Tritt, coach of the Statutory Slayers, was in true fashion in black face paint, whistle hanging from his neck, cold beverage in-hand, as he imparted words of wisdom for his team. Boosted by last year’s win, Siebecker’s team, Corporate Kickbacks, exuded a quiet confidence that had everyone wondering who would reign as kickball champions for the 2007-2008 school year.

Serving as the neutral party and referee, Associate Dean for Students Rachel Inman blew her whistle and the Statutory Slayers grabbed their bats to start the game. Jason Pill was the first player on base and with the second kick of the game, Pill ran across home plate to bring in the Statutory Slayers’ first run.

“This is the first time in history we have taken the lead,” Tritt shouted to his team while running back and forth between the on-deck circle and home plate. “Keep ‘em coming.”

With the Statutory Slayers taking the early 4-0 lead, Siebecker felt the frustration and accused Tritt’s team of cheating. Both benches emptied and Dean Inman ended the ruckus with a stern blow of the whistle to continue play.

This strategy seemed to fire up the Corporate Kickbacks as they quickly narrowed the lead to 4-3 in the middle of the game. A motivational pep talk from Tritt was all his team needed to regain the momentum. The Statutory Slayers scored three more runs to seal the win and regain the title.

Aside from bragging rights and a jovial professor during exams, the winning team also celebrated with wings and drinks at the expense of the losing coach Siebecker.